What the HELL is The Adventures of Mark Twain? (DISTURBING Kids Movie)

[Music] back in 2014 I stumbled across a very interesting video on YouTube one that I wasn't really ready for and to be honest kind of disturbed me it was a scene from a claymation movie called The Adventures of Mark Twain sounds innocent enough right well I hope y'all are ready for a large dose of existential dread fools what fascination strange isn't that great like could you imagine being a parent and walking in on your kid watching television and then some terrorto named Satan shows up on the screen that is amazing I would be a very bad parent needless to say this scene left quite the impression on me and as a plate a bunch of other people too I've recently been getting a lot of requests asking me to look into this film funny enough I spoke about this scene briefly in a video of mine back in 2015 but it was specifically the seitan part the movie the scene is from has a lot more to it and it's very unique I mean we're talking about a claymation film that's based on the writings of Mark Twain that range from happy-go-lucky Tom Sawyer all the way to an angel who preaches about the futility of human existence and that life itself is only a vision a dream let's go check it out so before I talk about the folks behind this movie I think it's only fair to give Mark Twain a shout out so yeah go head up Mark Twain's Twitter his tick-tock his only fan what he said before this entire film is based on the writings of Mark Twain and even feature some of his more obscure work for those who don't know Mark Twain was a famous writer from the 19th century and is often referred to as the father of American literature despite his accomplishments the guy had a tough life he went bankrupt three of his four kids died young and his wife died at the age of 58 so it really should be no surprise that some of his stories were bleak and dark Mark Twain was also very critical of religion which really shows in some of his writings as well especially the mysterious stranger we'll get to that in a bit but yeah Mark Twain was a very fascinating person and it would take another creative Titan to bring a movie such as this to life enter will Vinton the father of claymation hmm lots of fathers of zin this video what would I be the father of fair no no not that well will here is the guy responsible for the California Raisins and the noid avoid the noid perhaps it was the noid who should have avoided me the guy literally used clay to make his creations pulling off amazing effects and beautiful scenes the cloud sequence at the end of the Mark Twain movie is down right gorgeous and it just might be my favorite claymation creation ever well besides clayfighter I was fortunate enough to find an interview with will from a wnd.com only the interview and the description for those who want to read it in it we'll share is how the Mark Twain movie was a request from a producer named Hugh Kennedy the guy was apparently a massive Mark Twain fan and wanted to talk wil into doing a movie about Mark Twain stories will said that he wasn't too familiar with Mark Twain's writings but after reading the diary of Adam and Eve he realized that there was a very unique film that could be made so well with his own production studio when to work on the film and did so with a very small team and a very small budget for those who don't know claymation is basically stop-motion animation which is quote a filming technique in which successive positions of objects such as clay models or photographed to produce the appearance of movement needless to say Will and his team worked incredibly hard on the film and made something truly unique after four long years of production the movie was completed in 1984 though it wouldn't be released until 1986 since that's when Halley's Comet would be passing by earth again I like that since the movie itself is entirely based on Halley's Comet and how Mark Twain actually died the last time it came by seems poetic unfortunately for Will and his movie the film had a limited release and didn't do so well in theaters according to will the distributors for the movie did not tell him that their company was filing for bankruptcy I guess will and Mark here have a lot more in common than I thought well that the film got shafted with its release and wasn't able to build a strong audience though the movie definitely had its hardcore fans and it also received great reviews oh and get this the creator of Hey Arnold Craig Bartlett worked on this movie it's super cool because the first version of Hey Arnold was originally done in claymation so that's pretty interesting but unfortunately for will bad luck would follow him going into the future again he was able to find success with animating company mascots and also worked on a Fox show called the PJs yeah remember that but sadly for well he continued to have financial problems in the late 90s Phil Knight the owner of Nike became the majority shareholder of will studio and will was eventually dismissed from the company phil knight then put his son Travis knight in charge and get this the studio that was Will Vinton it would turn into lekha going into this movie researching it I had no clue that this studio would become this studio completely caught me off guard but I could only imagine the mixed feelings that we'll had when he got kicked from his own studio we're gonna go over there hog-tie mr. Twain and hijack this year ship will would go on to create another studio which made a handful of shorts but in 2008 will retired from his long career in animation and unfortunately would die due to cancer in 2018 at the age of 70 well rest in peace well you were truly a unique artist and you definitely made a mark on the history of animation alright so what's this movie about like I said before this film is based on multiple stories from Mark Twain and his characters I guess you could call it the Mark Twain expanded universe yeah eat that Marvel the film starts off with a scrolling text telling us about mark and his actual comments about Halley's Comet how quote the almighty has said no doubt now there are these two unaccountable freaks they came in together they must go out together so the story itself centers around Mark Twain and his pursuit of the comet he pilots this flying dirigible like it's almost like imagine a steamboat butt in the air that's what it was before he takes off though you've got Tom Sawyer Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher who sneaked on board so already off the we're giving that meta nature coming in it's even funny because when the kids are like oh sorry mr. Twain we did not know Mark Twain is like ah yes Tom Sawyer Huck fan you rascal and Becky Thatcher my dear how are you and the kids are all like how does he know us as the ship takes off we see this mysterious figure walking around in the shadows that will come into play here later on in the film so throughout the movie these three kids are told stories from Mark Twain sometimes the stories are told by Mark Twain saying here's a book take a look and other moments there's a room that loads up the books it's kind of like I would say a hallow deck from Star Trek that's exactly what it is actually where it loads up the story the first story the kids visit is the celebrated Jumping Frog which to me personally I thought that was fine it wasn't anything super exciting it wasn't anything that was terrible it was just a nice average story to get things moving along I do like how these guys when they move their mouth you don't see their mouth it's their moustache instead that's cool that's a nice touch so between each story we see the ship continue its voyage towards Halley's Comet we also get a bunch of quotes from Mark Twain which by the way are actual quotes from Mark Twain no doubt they all my dear there goes those two unaccountable freaks they came in together they must go the next big story we jump into is the diaries of Adam and Eve which is in my opinion the slowest part of the movie I'm not saying that it's bad it's not it's that it drags a bit there are moments where I feel like it's slow the pace is kind of just not really keep me interested compared to other parts in the film that being said it's interesting seeing this movie's interpretation of the days of creation and going off of Mark Twain's writings well he got like God who's like oops I made a mistake didn't mean to do that oops okay you also got Adam and Eve here who are wearing outfits gotta clothe them up for the kids but after that comes the best part of the entire film the mysterious stranger now this does not happen often but I actually read some of the literature for this it's kind of a rare occasion where I can actually read books or stories to back up what a movie is based on but this one I could not ignore I wanted to know more about this book how different it is compared to the animation and what this movie presents because this scene just full-on stopped it that the tone of the movie it's whiplash you go from colorful goofy Adam and Eve all the way down to an existential angel named Satan that's a 180 if I've ever seen one so I read some of the book I read the first 50 pages and there are already differences between the movie and the book first off the book is about these three kids in Austria it's back I believe during the 18th century I believe and these three kids run into another kid and this kid is like beautiful he's intoxicating he makes the other kids feel comfortable and the kids like yeah um my name is Satan I'm an angel and building up to that part and the book these kids are like we've heard about angels in the area and also goes but we did not expect to run into one and from that point on the angel starts to talk to them about like yes I know everything I'm sixteen thousand years old oh yes my uncle Satan because technically it's not the Satan it's a kid who is part of the family Satan and he's like oh yeah my uncle you know he's he messed up but the family's fine and you see this character perform these miracles where he can read the minds of the kids the kids can like feel comfortable where they can't really explain it where they're just delighted to be him they never felt better in their life and Satan then creates the people of the dirt and then as we see in the movie here in a moment he squashes them without caring and that really scared the kids because they thought oh no these little people they have Souls and now they're going to hell but then Satan in the book is like I don't know you're talking about like that wasn't wrong I don't know what wrong is because I'm without sin and that's where the movie kind of picks up with that sentiment of you've got a character who you would think is like I am the devil with my pitchfork in my red horns no not this character what we have here is one of the most unique takes on Satan I've ever seen again it's technically not Satan but you get the point so the scene starts off with this sad depressed Mark Twain walking out of the holodeck and he hits us with one of his quotes about how life is but a vapor I believe and the only certain thing is oblivion so off the bat we're already getting an existential smack in the face and then the kids see Satan at the door now something worth noticing here is this version of Satan it doesn't look anything like the one from the book this one has a white jester mask it's got a suit of armor it has no physical body but the mask itself is the face and it contorts it's just brilliant this design is incredible and it's completely unique to the film so massive props to the folks who made this movie and going in this direction because I think it's a lot more effective than Satan being a kid please come so we go in it's a floating island and it's in the middle of nothing just floating in the darkness Satan's like what do you all like to eat he makes them some fruit then he's like hey let's build some people which is again that's from the book they build little soldiers a caso little cow and that's when the really dark disturbing stuff starts to kick in where Satan is like you all are such a worthless lot such strange customs and you see his face becoming I say his its face becoming more contorted and just messed up because it's seeing these people fighting over a cow and as we see it's symbolic it's absolutely symbolic to humanity how we fight over things the way that they see these small little mud people is how God or any creature who's in power like a divine being sees humanity we're nothing we're just bugs were just nothing to them and there's even a part in the book where it indefinitely do it like this in the movie because in the movie you've got the two people complaining and Satan is like squashing them deliberately with his hand in the book they describe it more that Satan's talking to the kids as the two people fight and Satan doesn't even break eye contact with the kids he's still talking and he just takes his hand smashes the people and doesn't even pay them any attention it's the equivalent of somebody eating a sandwich seeing a bug on their counter and just squish and yet without thinking a second thought because it means nothing to them and that's the point these people these humans these little creatures mean nothing to Satan because in the same way that humans mean nothing in this particular occasion to whoever is the creator or divine being who that really shakes you up and Tom Sawyer and Huck and Becky they're really messed up over it they're like you killed him oh no even got a little pastor clay creature coming out and praying over the coffin that people morning and it just upsets Satan even more and more and then a direct quote from the book will have a storm now in an earthquake if you'd like and then he just kills them all and they all die and the kids are really messed up Oh Fred and then Satan hits them with two more quotes from the book being we can make more if we need them if we want to if we need them you murdered them never mind them people are of no value we could make more sometime if we need them so to summarize it all this scene gives me goosebumps I'm a person who struggles with existential dread I mean I guess everyone does to a degree but this same particular kind of hits it in the right spot where it freaks me out at times but it's also such a beautiful way to explore it to see existence from the perspective of this creature who thinks nothing of you and it's scary and it's disturbing and oh my god what's it doing in a kids movie but here we are you know here's Satan and it's killing people on screen I can't imagine being a kid watching this when I was young I fortunately saw it when I was an adult so I had an adult mind to be able to process this but men my heart breaks for the children who watched this back in the day and we're like what just happened that all being said the scene was beautifully executed usually I don't care for telling shifts where it like spins on a dime like this but in this regard it's just my chef's kiss magnificent and also it's kind of funny to see them using clay to build the people in the books and you have claymation being used to build the people in the movie by claymation characters there's some poetry there and I love it so after that the kids are really messed up they're like we've got to get out of here Mark Twain is a crazy man he wants to get us killed we've got to take over the boat we've got to get out of here and we continue on with the dark side of Mark Twain where you have him arguing in a library like complaining to God you've got him playing this organ I believe and how depressing that sounds and you're really catching on the field that Mark Twain was a very divided in between being an optimist and being a pessimist which I fully understand why since we know his history and what he's been through the next segment of the movie we jump into is about captain storm field and how he goes to heaven he too is chasing Halley's Comet and on accident arrives at heaven but at the wrong heaven it is like this alien version and he's in line trying to get in talking to the alien version of Saint Peter who is like well I don't know you I don't know San Francisco what's California you know whatever go on in and as he went in he's like where's my hem book where's my Bible and they're like what are you talking about just go in and when he goes in he sees a bunch of aliens like making out you got one where to show that said let's crock which is like you know come on it's fantastic these aliens are living it up in their heaven they're partying hard and then captain storm fields like I want to go to human heaven he goes there they're shushing him he gets what he wants and it ends with the quote from Mark Twain saying go to heaven for climate I believe and go to hell for company and you know here's the actual quotes you can hear it from the man himself heaven for climate l company after that we get to the last big story we've got Adam and Eve wrapping up their diary you got Eve who partook and the apple or took apart aches whatever she ate it hey we got two sentence in this movie the gesture face that's terrifying and disturbing and then this cool-looking snake was sunglasses how about that once more I think that this particular story in the movie drags a bit it's a bit slow I think it's charming that you see how Adam and Eve who are new humans are trying to understand the world trying to wrap their minds around each other children raising a family understanding the sin they committed with the tree of knowledge how they were kicked out of eat and how they rolled with the punches and started a family which by the way look at the family you got all these cute kids and for those who don't know Cain and Abel were the first two children that were born biblically speaking from Adam and Eve and those are the two who would go on where I believe Cain killed Abel so Cain's like the evil one in the family look how the movie has Kane he's a biker look at this guy I love it this movie and how it wants to interpret characters from Mark Twain's writings from the Bible all the way down to Satan it is magnificent I love it so we get to the final part of our movie where you have the steamboat taking off after Halley's Comet the kids talk about how they're like we don't want to die Mark Twain's like what are you talking about you had Kong to die and then we come face to face with omegat Wayne do I'm done done yeah so that mysterious figure I mentioned before that is you know what I said that Mark Twain was divided well this movie takes that literally you've got alpha Twain who is like the optimistic person who is loving and caring and has a bright outlook on humanity and existence and then you've got omegate Wayne who is the one who walked out of the mysterious stranger and also fun fact walked into the holodeck for the damned human race which really sells you on this man Mark Twain was very divided on his feelings when it came to humanity where he liked parts of it but he fully understood that we are a really messed up species this time that's the end basically where you have Omega train talking to alpha train it's a very cathartic moment cuz we're getting all these different types of tone in the movie being the bright side being the dark side and they join together it's like you have Mark Twain kind of talking about accepting death and that there is a fear of what if there is nothing after this and that's what Omega Twain is talking about and that's where I believe like the mysterious stranger came from that kind of story came from Omega train and then you have alpha train who's like I am fully inclined to think that there is something after this and you know if there's not don't be a [ __ ] let's go and that's really like the full sentiment of the movie that's what I took away from it this movie does a great job of showing you the different levels of Mark Twain and what he thought and what he felt and what he believed in whether it be with God or that there is no God with how you write a story about kids with Tom Sawyer and it's more happy-go-lucky which also has its dark sides we have something as disturbing and as existential as a mysterious stranger and something that is as charming well as the movie put said as the diaries of Adam and Eve this was a very complicated man and this movie did a great job of capturing that and also showcasing it visually and then we get the final scene of the movie and it's just downright gorgeous you've got Mark Twain's face and the clouds it is a work of art it is beautiful and that was the conclusion of the movie and I thought what a fitting finale well done nothing [Music] all right let's go over my five points first the story it is wonderful that I was able to discover more about the writings of Mark Twain because of this film going into it I had no idea about the Adam and Eve diary I did not know about the mysterious stranger outside of the clip I did not know anything about the jumping bullfrog there are so many things about Mark Twain that I had no idea about and to see it in a film and to actually be inspired to look more into it that's a testament to the film again I read part of a book for this video that's how into it I was as the movie goes it's a very unique take because it's basically an anthology of Mark Twain's writings to visit the different worlds he's created he's basically God in this movie where you have this as I call him alpha Twain and then you have the dark side of Mark the omega Twain and that really does speak to the audience a bullfrog Adam and Eve oh these are happy-go-lucky things the mysterious stranger the damned human race these are the darker sides the more pessimistic thoughts of Mark and to go throughout the movie and discover that to see that this mysterious figure is Mark that was very satisfying [Music] the part of the movie being that this is Mark Twain basically dying that's interesting you see his different writings what kind of person he is because of each story because each story is a part of mark that's a part of his heart his saw his mind his beliefs in those stories even the main characters of Huck and Tom and Becky represent that they were surprised to see the mysterious stranger and that kind of dark side of Mark being creations of Mark themselves and the kids themselves they don't really have any huge arcs they go on the boat because they're seeking adventure they want to make a name for themselves they get in over their heads and their entire role is for us the audience to walk in their shoes and go around the insane world that is Mark Twain and his writings Mark Twain himself though you see the polar opposites and when they share quotes you got like alpha Twain with his optimistic quotes his more lighthearted stuff and then you got Omega Twain with his more existential dread thoughts of religion what is existence at all so I catch both of those in the movie and I love it and in all coalesce is at the end with alpha Twain and Omega Twain fusing into Super Saiyan Twain [Music] next there's the voice-acting so the kids themselves they were fine they did their jobs nothing that knocked my socks off but it was of satisfaction but you've got James Whitmore and he knocked it out of the park James himself is an actor with an illustrious career he was in Planet of the Apes he has a fantastic voice when I hear him talk in the movie it's like you could have fooled me you sound like as I would imagine Mark Twain would sound like fun fact we don't know what he sounds like because he never recorded his voice but as far as James Whitmore and his performance I thought it was just magnificent he nailed it that was a big success oh I became a writer I am work today soon oh and by the way another fun fact for Satan's voice you have a guy's voice which I believe is well Fintan and also a girl's voice recording the same lines and combined and that was the voice of Satan will said that he wanted the voice to sound more a drogyn Asst now in the book again it's different but for the movie as far as how Will and his team wanted to interpret the scene fantastic and I love that this sequence is once more in a kids movie that was rated G even the folks who made it were like should this be baby G I think it should be PG and the distributors are like shut up just go release it who cares I didn't learn it at all it comes naturally to me like other curious things next there's the dialogue I like that the kids for Tom and Huck and Becky they seem so innocent they really are just these empty-headed protagonists who you know they're yearning for adventure but they really are just there to observe and learn and see what Mark Twain and his magical airship has to offer you go to the jumping bullfrog you go to Satan and you get a good vibe of the exchange of the characters talking to the other fictional characters and sharing their thoughts it was fine good dialogue but the best part of all was just Mark Twain and how they directly used quotes from Mark Twain and this movie I think it adds a lot to the film goes to show you that the folks who made this movie understood mark and how they wanted to roll him out in their animated movie was thinking we should set her down and let Becky off editing it was fine good sound effects wonderful music and not to brag too much on the mysterious stranger but the music and sounds they use for that scene complements it so much very well mixed very well done oh by the way it's worth mentioning there is a rumor that the Satan sequence was banned from television guess what that is not true Will Vinson is on record saying that's false so yeah I suppose that was just some kind of rumor yeah and finally we have the animation what can I say it's magnificent you got an animated feature film from the father of claymation what else could you want it is incredible seeing all the hard work they put into this movie and how they move the characters how they design them with Huck and Tom and Becky you've got the mysterious stranger where they decided we'll try something different here we're not going to make it seem like a kid from the book we're going to try something of our own and that was incredibly effective actually I think it elevates it even more there's definitely a creative touch to all of the scenes as far as the setting goes everything just completely slams and it's such a unique experience all right how would I improve it I wouldn't touch it leave it alone even with some of the imperfections that I didn't notice I think those imperfections add to the overall charm of the movie it makes the movie feel more and I keep saying this over and over it makes it feel more unique Mark Twain adventures stands out from all of these other films because of what it's about how they wanted to present it and how they basically saw it through I can't really think of another movie that comes close to this a claymation anthology that is truly one-of-a-kind so even though the Adam and Eve scene drags to me a bit I say leave it in it's fine it's forgivable and if anything it only adds to the overall experience what's classic something everybody wants to have read but nobody wants to read in conclusion The Adventures of Mark Twain is an incredibly unique film with its story its visuals and its origin real talk I'm so glad that more people are watching these clips on YouTube and are asking themselves what's this from because as amazing as the mysterious stranger scene is it's just a small slice of the entire experience and I think that watching the entire film amplifies the mysterious stranger once again props to Will Vinton and for what he achieved with this movie and also in the field of animation you made something truly unique and hopefully more people will give this movie a chance hey folks thanks again for watching this video sub for more uploads like this if you want a big shout out to my patreon my YouTube members y'all are awesome thank you for the support it was fun watching this movie it was a enjoyable experience to review it and it's been long overdue it's also nice to review something that's good every so often so that was nice alright thanks again for watching see you all next time [Music] you

Channel: Saberspark

Views: 1,010,428

Rating: 4.952889 out of 5

Keywords: the adventures of mark twain, mark twain mysterious stranger, the adventures of mark twain satan, disturbing, saber, saberspark, creepiest scene from any kid's movie, creepy, kids movie, satan, satan kids movie, the mysterious stranger, review

Id: NCqvi_XLCqU

Length: 35min 4sec (2104 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 05 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Saberspark]

Thank you for posting!

[u/Lordo5432]

What are you?

An angel

What's your name?

SATAN

[u/SolarPhoenix_IV]

Very good video and the movie its self was super interesting as well. I don't see much of this animation style and the way they do it is so artistic and beautiful that you can tell the creators had a lot of fun making it